Valkyrie Cain
Valkyrie Cain'was thrown into the weird and wonderful world of sorcerers and magic upon the death of the uncle, Gordon Edgley. After inheriting his house and most of his book royalties she was attacked while spending the night alone she was attacked by man demanding a key. Saved by Skulduggery Pleasant she would later accompany him on his investigation into her uncle's murder and later found out she was descended from the Last of the Ancients, a group of the first magical beings that rose up against and banished a group of malevolent gods. She and Skulduggery would eventually defeat her uncle's murderer, a sorcerer named Neferain Serpine, and would officially become his partner (or battle accessory). Valkyrie would later discover that her true name was Darquesse, a powerful sorcerer who was prophesied by Sensitives to destroy the world. She attempted to seal her true name in order to prevent herself from being controlled by somebody to full fill her grim destiny but after being possessed by a Remnant, Darquesse was coaxed out of her psyche and she would be let free whenever Valkyrie was in grave danger. Battle vs. Jotaro Kujo (by Wassboss) Intro It’s a wet dreary day in Roarhaven when a 1954 Bentley R-Type Continental pulls up outside of the Irish Sanctuary. Out from the driver’s side steps a tall, thin man whose face looks quite waxy and with a seemingly permanent smile on his face. A girl steps out from the passenger’s side, dressed in all black and wearing a large black ring on her right hand. She joins the tall man as he walks towards the entrance and he taps two symbols carved in his collarbone under his shirt which causes the face to melt away to reveal the skull underneath. “Remind me again why we’re here,” Valkyrie Cain asks as they head through the main door and into the reception. “I haven’t got a clue” Skulduggery replies “We have been summoned by the Council of Elders for an urgent meeting.” “So who called you Ravel or Ghastly?” “Neither, this was through the official channels.” Valkyrie looks at Skulduggery. “Then it must be serious.” “So you would think. Either that or their phones have been hacked by a group of international magical terrorists with a sinister agenda and phoning us could compromise our position. Or they’ve lost them. Probably lost them actually. Or dropped them, or burned them into a crisp in frustration. You’d be surprised how much that last one happens.” Valkyrie rolls her eyes. “Do you ever take anything seriously?” “I used to but then I found it took the fun out of everything,” Skulduggery replies and they are greeted by the administrator who beckons for them to follow him into a meeting room. “So do you know why we’ve been summoned?” he asks the administrator. “The council have just been joined by the Grand Mage of Japan, Hiroshi Ryuu. The meeting was arranged only last night but he arrived early this morning,” the administrator answers. Valkyrie looks at Skulduggery with concern but his body language is just as relaxed as when he walked in. They finally arrive at the conference room and the administrator opens the door and the two walk in to find 4 people sat around the table, all dressed in traditional elder robes. Valkyrie smiles at the two nearest too her and they both return the favour; Ghastly Bespoke & Erskine Ravel. She sits down next to Ghastly but Skulduggery remains standing and saunters over to the other two. She recognises the woman as Madame Mist, the 3rd of the 3 Irish elders and the other is a medium sized elderly Japanese man with jet black hair and a silly moustache. ''“Makes him look like one of those old karate masters from the movies” she thinks to herself and has to stop herself from giggling at the thought of him posing in a temple. “Ah Mr Pleasant and Miss Cain so glad you could join us” Hiroshi says standing and bowing. “I’m sorry to interrupt your daily business but there is something that has come to my attention.” He sits back down and takes out a thin file from a briefcase and puts it down on the table. “Some time ago i was informed of an incident where a group of gangsters had attacked a young man, who had quite remarkably managed to not only fend off the vicious mobsters but also do enough damage to put them in the hospital. Now we get these sort of reports often of extraordinary events to look into but I had more pressing matters to attend to and besides, whose to complain if some criminals happened to pick on the wrong person. So I put the file to one side to look at another time but a few days later I got another report, this time from an interview with the policemen who worked the case who had told some of my agents about the young man involved in said incident who they said had turned himself in voluntarily, talking about being possessed by some evil spirit.” He stops speaking momentarily in order to hand Skulduggery the file, which he flicks open and looks through. “Doesn’t sound too out of the ordinary, alot of nutcases claim that” he says. “Indeed Mr. Pleasant but these same men also reported that this boy somehow managed to take one of their guns and attempt to shoot himself but the bullet stopped in mid air before it could hit him, something the boy claimed the evil spirit was responsible for. They then said that the boy was later visited by another man, who claimed to be his grandfather and his friend, some Egyptian man I believe they said. They were apparently there to convince this young man to leave the cell and upon his refusal there appeared to be a scuffle between the Egyptian and the boy, which they claimed involved neither touching the other all of which culminated with the cell door being forcibly ripped off.” “Now that sounds a bit more interesting,” Skulduggery says, “What happened next?” “Well the Policemen didn’t technically have anything to charge him on so they let him leave with the two men and the boy’s mother. They did keep a record of his name though; Jotaro Kujo. He’s supposedly a minor delinquent a few reported thefts or assaults but none that ever lead to a conviction or arrest or even an official report.” “So this Jotaro character is just some typical teenage rebel then,” Ghastly inquires “I don’t see quite how this requires out attention, even if he does appear to be some sort of mage.” “I wouldn’t be so quick to say that Ghastly” Skulduggery says and tosses the file to him. Ghastly opens the file up and looks through the documents within, with Ravel leaning over to take a look. “There are just some reports of disturbances around the world supposedly involving Japanese mages, noting that relates to th-” Ghastly stops mid sentence. “Hmm” “What is it?” Valkyrie asks. “Apparently before every one of these attacks a young Japanese teenager was seen in the area. There is even some witness reports of this same teenager being directly involved with the people who ended up injured.” “That is who we believe to be Jotaro,” Hiroshi says “He was also seen with a group of men but we don’t have much information on them, only that two of them were his supposed grandfather and the Egyptian. Coincidentally enough we had a massive influx of attacks reported in Egypt and the positioning of the other reported attacks would suggest that is where they were heading. There were even reports of two men flying through the air in Cairo; one was positively identified as Jotaro Kujo.” “Interesting as this may be, I don’t see what this has to do with us,” Ravel asks. “You are quite right Elder Ravel, this is a Japanese Sanctuary problem and even if you stretch it to an international magical incident, Ireland has nothing to do with it. However this boy, Jotaro, is clearly a very powerful and potentially very dangerous man and we at the Japanese Sanctuary simply don’t have the personal to deal with this, as I have most of my operatives investigating a series of magic based disturbances in Morioh. But we were hoping to request the services of Mr Pleasant and Miss Cain to help us in this matter.” “I’m not sure about that Elder Ryuu,” Ravel interrupts “Skulduggery and Valkyrie are our prime detectives and as you well know their service has been key in solving some of the crisis’ we have found ourselves in.” Skulduggery puts his hands in his pockets and shrugs his shoulders. “We’re not working on anything drastically important at the moment and this boy could prove to be a possible world threat down the line.” “I know that Skulduggery but we can’t just let you go gallivanting off to Japan and leaving us without our prime detective.” “We have plenty of other detectives working for us who I’m sure are more than capable of dealing with our workload.” “You’re just saying that to get out of all that paperwork I asked you to fill out months ago.” “And I’m willing to sacrifice that paperwork to save the world. If the world ends think of all that time I wasted doing paperwork.” Ravel sighs. “Okay, fine then, you can go and check out this Jotaro character. But if anything important comes up here you’ll be on the first flight back here you understand.” “Of course Grand Mage,” Skulduggery says and bows. “You’re mocking me aren’t you?” “Well those robes do make you easy to mock.” “This is most excellent news,” Hiroshi says clapping his hands together “I have my own private jet waiting at the airport as soon as your ready just get in contact and we’ll leave at once.” The Japanese Grand Mage stands and bows deeply to all of the Irish Elders before exiting the room, followed by his guards. “Well Valkyrie looks like it’s up to us to save the world again” Skulduggery says. “It usually is,” she replies beaming. “I’ve never been to Japan before” she thinks to herself. “It could be the end of the world but when am I going to get this opportunity again." Battle '''3 Days Later "You want me to do what!?" Skulduggery looks at her blankly, or at least it would seem blankly as he has to face but she can tell he's looking unimpressed. "I want you to go and hang around outside of this high school and to see if Jotaro comes out." "What are you crazy, I'm not Japanese i'll stick out like a sore thumb." "That's true but they might just assume you're an exchange student. Besides it looks much better than me, a talking skeleton, standing around looking debonair. And besides I want to check out the address we were given by the Japanese Sanctuary and see if I can find anything out." "But what if I do see him come out what am I supposed to do then" "Just give me a call and I'll come running back to save the day as usual" "You're such as doofus" she says and gets out of the car, heading over to the school gates and perching on the wall outside. Just as she expected she gets some strange looks from the students as they walk in and out but most are too engrossed in their own business to worry about the tall, pale, Irish girl loitering around their school. After a couple of hours she feels her phone vibrating and takes it all, checking the number before answering. "Hello" "I just went to the address they gave to use," Skulduggery says on the other end "There was nobody there so I invited '' myself in. I couldn't find anything in the boy's room or anywhere else for that matter so I'm coming back. Have you seen anything?" "Nah it's been pretty uneventful on my end." "Okay well I'll be back in about 20 minutes so just wait there and we'll figure out what out next move is going to be" "Alright then, see you in a bit then." Valkyrie ends the call and slips the phone back into her jacket pocket again. She jams her hands in her pockets to help relieve the biting cold breeze and let's out a sigh. Students are pouring out of the gates, eager to get home after a long day studying. As she waits Valkyrie inexplicably finds her gaze drawn to a group of girls standing by the side of the gates. They are chatting and laughing when all of a sudden one of them gasps as a tall figure walks past them. He's dressed in the same school uniform as them and as he walks past the group of girls all quickly stand straight and one of them says something to him but he ignores them and carries on walking. The group of girls immediately follow after and as she watches him she's sure she recognises him from somewhere. She frowns and reaches into her pocket, taking out the picture that was given to her in the briefing. The picture is of this Jotaro person but it has been taken from the side, his face obscured by the lapels of his jacket and his cap. As she looks at the figure her eyes widen. ''"That's Him" Valkyrie stands abruptly and almost knocks over one of the students walking past. They growl something threatening at her but she hardly notices and she stares at Jotaro as he walks down the street. "I should call Skulduggery" '' she thinks and goes to take out her phone. ''"By the time her gets here he'll be long gone." She stops mid action and as she does she notices Jotaro disappear round a corner. "Crap" Without thinking Valkyrie breaks right into a run, zoning in on the corner that he had gone around. She pushes through the crowd and gets a few disapproving looks. As she reaches the corner she sees no sign of Jotaro but she does see the group of girls, who are loitering around outside of a fast food shop. Remembering how they were crowding around Jotaro before she hurries towards them. She slows to a brisk walk as Jotaro emerges from the shop, holding a sandwich. As the group of girls start talking to him, each one trying to out speak the other, he turns his back on them and continues down the street but they don't seem to take a hint and walk off after him. Valkyrie continues to follow them from a safe distance until after about a hundred feet Jotaro turns around suddenly, barking something at the girls in Japanese. Valkyrie quickly darts behind a nearby bus stop and peers out as the group of girls scatter with their heads down and cheeks blushing bright red. Jotaro has his back to her again and she steps back out from behind her cover and resumes tailing him through the winding streets of the city. She is so focused on her target that she doesn't even notice the person in front of her stopping until she walks right into the back of him. Stumbling forward they both fall to the ground in a heap. She groans and disentangles herself from the man who gets up and brushes himself down. He begins to apologise profusely but Valkyrie ignores him, her eyes scanning the area desperately. "Where did he go, she thinks and rushes off down the path she was walking down, stopping as she reaches the corner. She still can't see him so she just follows the pavement round and past a small alleyway between two buildings. She feels a strong grip on her shoulder and before she can react she is dragged into the alleyway and shoved up against the wall. Her armoured clothes absorb the blow and she feels the grip loosen which allows her to slump down and she looks up to see Jotaro standing side on to her, looking out into the street. "Naze anata wa watashi,-ji" he says quietly and turns towards her and for the first time she gets a proper look at his face. "Holy Shit, He's Hot" she thinks to herself. He's tall, taller than Skulduggery and his face is hard and defined. Her gaze lowers down the rest of his body which is bulging with muscle underneath his uniform and she can't help but admire the effort he must have put into getting himself so perfectly toned. She looks back up into his eyes, a piercing blue and she tries to consider her next course of action. "Does he speak English?" she wonders. His unnaturally emotionless gaze bores into her and she realises she hasn't said anything for a good few seconds and she blushes involuntarily in embarrassment. "Yare Yare Daze," Jotaro says suddenly, "Anata dake no subete no ta no on'nanoko no yōna monodesu. Anata no hisuterī to tsuneni meiwakuna watashi." He begins to walk away. "No wait" she blurts out and he stops, looking back at her over his shoulder. "Hmm, you do speak then," he replies in perfect English, "so I'll ask you again, why are you following me?" Now she can get a good look at him she realises that he can't be much older than her, despite his imposing stature. She realises she doesn't have many options available to her, even fewer than don't involve some sort of violence. "You need to come with me," she says. "Hopefully I can lead him back to the school. Then at least I'll have Skulduggery to back me up" she thinks. "And why should I do that" Jotaro replies and Valkyrie curses to herself mentally. "I can't really explain but I need you to come with me to the school" "Why? Is it because you have some friend who really wants to meet me? I don't know who you are but whatever your problem is I don't care. I'm leaving." Jotaro turns and walks away and Valkyrie watches as her non-violent options decrease to zero. She remembers the advice Skulduggery gave her when they first started combat training; "If you're going to strike, strike first and preferably before they know you're going to strike Gathering the shadows in her ring Valkyrie flicks her hand out and a tendril of darkness slithers out and hooks around Jotaro's leg. She lets the grip tighten and yanks back, lifting Jotaro off his feet and tossing him further down the alleyway. Instead of slamming into the wall like she expects Jotaro turns at the last minute and she swears she shes something protrude out of his leg, leaving a large dent in the wall but allowing him to land on his feet. He looks at her, his expression not having changed at all. Valkyrie gathers up more darkness and throws several shadow shards at him but he leaps out of the way and picks up a discarded bin lid and throws it at her. She is forced to twist under the projectile and when she comes back up he's right up in her face. "How the hell did he cover the distance so fast" she thinks but instinctively clicks her fingers and a flame appears and quickly grows into a fiery mass. He splays her palms out and the fire leaps forward at Jotaro. With a cry of defiance Star Platinum leaps forth to protect his user and punching the fire out of existence. Valkyrie takes a step back in awe. She's never seen anything like this before. "Is it a Gist?" She barely has time to comprehend the sight before Star Platinum lunges forward again with a powerful punch which strikes her right in the ribs. Her jacket absorbs the blow but the momentum knocks her back with a sharp jolt. She gasps and another punch knocks her to the ground. Groaning she rolls out of the way as another punch from Star Platinum leaves a crater in the ground. As she rolls away she lashes out with her leg and hooks it around Jotaro's ankle, dragging him to the ground. She rises to her feet and gathers the shadows in her hand, whipping them up into a frenzy before launching a ball of concentrated darkness. Star Platinum is once again there to intercept but the force is so powerful that it actually knocks him back a few steps and some of the shadows slither round his body and strike Jotaro. One hits him right in the jaw and he stumbles back, clutching at his mouth and pulling his hand away to find a streak of blood down his finger. He looks up to give Valkyrie a death stare just as she lunges forward with a leaping roundhouse kick. Star Platinum is once again out to defend him and grabs hold of Valkyrie's foot as she is about connect and throws her away but with a twist in the air she lands gracefully on her feet. "That's some Gist you've got there," Valkyrie says. "I don't know of this Gist you speak of. This is my Stand; Star Platinum." Valkyrie looks at him puzzled. "So you can see him then. I wonder what your stand is, you've been careful to hide it from me although those things you do must be a result of it's ability." "Listen buddy, I don't know what the hell you're on about." "Never mind. Whatever it is I'm going to kick it's ass anyway." Star Platinum appears beside him but Valkyrie is ready and pushes at the air. Jotaro dodges out of the way but that's exactly what Valkyrie intended and with a flick of her wrist a shard of shadow streaks towards him. Star Platinum is once again there to intercept but the shard goes right through his shoulder, the same wound appearing on Jotaro and making him grunt in discomfort. Valkyrie quickly puts two and two together and runs at Jotaro, aiming a kick at his head. Star Platinum blocks the attack but in doing so leaves itself wide open. Valkyrie gathers the shadows into tendrils and wraps them around the Stand, holding it in place and despite it's best efforts it can't escape the bonds. Jotaro feels the pressure on his own body intensify and when Valkyrie pins Star Platinum against the wall he can only watch. "Looks like as long as I keep this guy trapped then you won't be able to do anything. Now I'm going to call my friend and he's going to come and you'll be spending the rest of your days in a cell in the Gaul" "You think you've won don't you" Jotaro says. Valkyrie increases the pressure of the tendrils and he coughs up some blood. "And that's why I've beaten you." Without warning Star Platinum extends his middle and index finger and they slam into Valkyrie's ring and it shatters. The bonds around Star Platinum immediately dissipate and Valkyrie looks down in shock as the shadows contained in her ring thrash about and disappear. She doesn't even see the punch until it's much too close to dodge and it breaks a couple of ribs, another one to the skull sending her flying back and hitting a dumpster with a bone cracking thud. "Oooh. Looks like you've fractured your skull there," the voice in her head says "I could fix that if you let me out." Jotaro strolls calmly over to her and stares down at her. "I could see that whenever you used those shadow attacks that they came out of that ring. Is that your Stand? I don't think so because otherwise you would have been busted into many little pieces. The Old Man will be interested in hearing about this." Jotaro turns and begins to walk away. "Look he's getting away. You need me." Valkyrie tries to ignore Darquesse but as she tries to move she feels the sharp pain of her ribs digging into her and her head is throbbing with pain from the fracture and she blacks out. Jotaro exits the alleyway and wanders over to a nearby phone box. Stepping in he dials in his grandfather's number and it rings a couple of times but before anyone can pick up the phone something slams into the phone box. Jotaro flings himself out of the doorway and looks in shock as the dumpster from the alleyway continues on its path into the middle of the road, making several cars swerve recklessly to avoid it. Quickly jumping to his feet, he watches as the girl walks out of the alleyway but something has changed about her demeanour; she's much more confident and power seems to radiate from her. She darts through the air at him, too fast for even Star Platinum to react and they both go flying through a shop window. As the people within run out screaming, Jotaro pulls himself out of the wreckage. Darquesse too gets steadily to her feet and pulls a shattered shard of glass out of her abdomen, the wound healing almost instantly. "That was fun wasn't it Jotaro," Darquesse says smiling. "It's going to be a shame killing you," Star Platinum leaps out and grabs her by the throat, digging his hands in to try and choke her. Darquesse is having none of it and drives her boot hard into his leg, feeling it give way under the pressure and shifts her weight to get it into a hold which she uses to slam it hard into the ground. Jotaro slams head first into the floor and his nose breaks under the impact. His gaze turns murderous and Star Platinum picks itself up and slams a headbutt into Darquesse's face and shattering front of the skull. "ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA" it shouts as a string of punches hit Darquesse from all angles eventually finishing with her being slammed through the wall and into the street outside. He walks over to the hole and sees her broken body lying in a heap of debris. He hears an audible cracking and as he looks closer he sees the bones in her arms begin to reform and skins grows where it had been torn away. Darquesse sits up and Jotaro hears her spine click as the vertebrate slide back into place. "Nani" he says in awe and Darquesse picks herself up and dusts herself down. "You didn't think it'd be that easy did you" she says and her hands light up as twin bursts of flames leap from her palms in a flamethrower fashion. Star Platinum acts as a barrier but the flames still burn it and scorches Jotaro's skin. Darquesse cuts off the flames and reaches forward to grab the Stand and plant a headbutt right onto it's nose. Jotaro calls his stand back in and clutches at his face in pain as the blood flows freely from his nose. Darquesse picks up one of the shards of glass and raises it above her head to bring it down but Star Platinum grabs hold of her wrists and holds her in place. Looking up a her Jotaro is surprised to see that she is slowly bringing the shard down. Star Platinum is clearly struggling and despite his massive strength he can't stop Darquesse from pressing the tip of the shard into Jotaro's throat. "All I need is one more heave," she says gleefully "One more heave and your life energy will flow out of you and rejoin the great stream." She lifts back her leg and slams the toes of her boot into Jotaro's leg, shattering the shin and distracting him long enough to push the shard in further and- "STAR PLATINUM STOP TIME" Jotaro extracts himself from underneath Darquesse, taking extra care to avoid cutting his own throat on the shard. "That would just be embarrassing" he thinks. He observes his opponent. "It looks like whatever damage I do to her gets healed. I would say that she's a vampire but she has been out in the sun and nothing happened. Maybe if I destroy the brain though, it might kill her." Jotaro can feel the seconds ticking away and makes his decision, bringing Star Platinum to stand by his side. With a flurry of punches it shatters Darquesse's skull and tenderises the brain underneath. A wave of time flows over him as time starts once more and the momentum from the punches knocks the body down into the ground. As Jotaro peers down at her he sees her cough up blood and he flips her over onto her front, where her face is still relatively unscathed. "Sh-S-She came out again didn't she," Valkyrie says. Jotaro is confused, there is a whole different disposition to the girl now. "Well at least I know I'm not going to destroy the world anymore," she continues a tear welling up in her eyes. "I guess this is for the best then. At least Skulduggery won't have to do it." She takes a deep breath and her body sags, giving up. "I'm sorry Mom. Sorry Dad. Sorry Alice" she says barely audible and the last remnants of life leave her body. Jotaro's normally cold demeanour softens slightly and he almost feels sorry for the dead girl lying before me. There is a buzzing from her pocket and he reaches down and takes out a Mobile Phone, although it looks much more futuristic than what is currently available but he manages to answer it. "Valkyrie," a smooth voice says from the other side "Where are you? Are you Okay? Why didn't you answer you phone before." "Valkyrie is Dead" Jotaro says "What!? Who the hell are you" "I'm Jotar- "YOU," the voice hardens "You killed her didn't you." "I didn't have any choice she attacked me and I had to defend myself." The other person goes silent for a while. "Have you ever heard of the Skeleton Detective, Boy" "No" "Well let me tell you something. I'm going to find you and when I do find you there will be hell to pay." The line goes dead and Jotaro places the phone back in the girl's pocket. "Valkyrie eh?" he thinks and walks out of shop as a crowd of people gather around. An ambulance man walks up to him but Jotaro waves him away and heads over to another Phone Box, dialling a number and waiting for someone to pick up. "Hello. This is Joseph Joestar speaking" "Hey Old Man," Jotaro says into the receiver "I'm going to need your help with something." Winner: Jotaro Kujo Expert's Opinion Star Platinum was the key to Jotaro's victory here with it's great strength and high durability enabling it to tank whatever Valkyrie could throw at him. Valkyrie was the more skilled hand to hand fighter but rarely got to press that advantage due to Star Platinum intercepting all her attacks. While Darquesse evened things up a little, Star Platinum's time stop gave Jotaro an opportunity to get around her insanely quick healing. Furthermore Jotaro was much more intelligent and could control his emotions better than Valkyrie which made him a less reckless fighter. To see the original battle, weapons and votes, click here. Category:Warriors Category:Fictional Warriors Category:Human Warriors Category:Super-Human Warriors Category:Fantasy Warriors Category:Magic Warriors Category:Book Warriors Category:Law Enforcement Warriors Category:Anti-Villain Warriors Category:Anti-Hero Warriors Category:Modern Warriors Category:European Warriors Category:Counter-Terrorism Warriors Category:Vigilantes Category:Evil Warriors Category:Irish Warriors Category:Skulduggery Pleasant Warriors